Improvement in lighting gas by electricity



E. E. BEAN & W. H. MUMLER.

LIGHTING GAS BY ELECTRICITY No. 65,466. Patented June 4, 1867.

@nitnh tetra ileum ffirz.

EDWIN E. BEAN AND WILLIAM H. MUMLER, OFBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO THEMSELVES AND NATHANIEL CUMMINGS, OF SAME PLACE.

Letters Patent N'o. 65,466, dated June 4, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN LIGHTING GAS BY ELECTRICITY.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that we, EDWIN E. Bnsn and WiLhmu II. Multan, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improved Apparatus for Letting On and Shutting Off Gas, and Igniting the same by hlean's of Electricity or the Current from a Galvanic Battery, of which the, following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of our improved apparatus.

Figure 2 is -a vertical section through the same on the line a: a; of fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical section through the burner and the insulating sleeve which surrounds it.

Our invention consists in an improved apparatus for letting on and shutting off gas, and igniting the same by means of electricity, two senarate currents, passing through independent wires, being employed, the one to liberate clock-work which is connected with the valve or stop-cock of the burner, and the other to throw the spark which ignites the gas; and our invention also consists in surrounding the tip of the burner with a removable sleeve of non-conducting material for insulating the conducting-wires; and our invention furthermore consists in embedding the wires through which pass the currents of electricity for lighting the gas, in a sleeve of non-conducting material, which surrounds the tip of the burner, or in the non-conducting tip of the burner itself, by which means the wires are held firmly in place, and prevented from being thrown out of their proper position.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand and use our invention, we will proceed to describe the manner in which we have carried it out.

In the said drawings, A is the gas pipe, the stop-cock l of which is made to turn easily, and is operated by a shaft, C, which carries a pin, a, which strikes against the projections in on the stop-cock the end of the shaft, however, may be permanently connected with the stop-cock by means of a suitable joint, if preferred. The shaft 0 runs in hearings in theframcwork D, and is connected with ordinary clock-work E, which is actuated by a spring, a; a weight or other motor may, however, be employed, if preferred. F is a disk of metal or other suitable material, which is permanently secured to the shaft C, outside the frame D. This disk F is provided with four notches (I, at equal distances apart, by means of which and a retaining pawl or catch, e, the clock-work is arrested and held stationary at the required times. The lower end of the pawl e is attached to a horizontal rock-shaft, f, having its bearings at g; and to the under side of this shaftf is secured an arm or lever, h, which carries at'its lower end the armature 2' of the eleetro-mngnet G, the wires k of which are connected with the two poles of a galvanic battery. On completing the electric circuit by means of a suitable key-board,

V the coils G become magnetic, andattract the armature 2', which draws the pawl 0 out of its notch in the disk F,

to liberate the clock-work and allow the disk F to make a quarter revolution, when it is arrested bythe pawl c falling into the next notch (Z. Tile quarter revolution of the disk F, with its shaft 0, turns the cock B to let on the gas. The sparks are then thrown through the gas to ignite it by means of the platinum wires Z 122, which are connected with the poles of a suitablc'battery in a well-known manner. The platinum wires Z 111 are embedded ,in the lava or other non-conductirig-sleeve H, which surrounds the tip 4 of the burner, by which means they are held firmly in place in the exact position required; or the wires may be embedded in the tip of the burner itself, which maybe formed of non-conducting material, and the sleeve H dispensed with, if preferred; and by thus embedding the wires in a sleeve, or in the tip of the burner, instcad of passing them up on the outside of the tip, as has heretofore been customary, all danger of their being disarranged and rendered inoperative is avoided. It will be seen that the sleeve above described, containing the wires Z m, may be readily applicdto I the ordinary burner in common use, and it may be removed and replaced with great facility for repairs or other purposes.

When it is designed to extinguish the light, theoperator completes the circuit through the electromagne G, to liberate-the clock-work and allow the disk F with its shaft to again make a quarter revolution to turn the cock B and shut off the gas. In order to prevent the liability of the disk F being revolved more than a quarter way round by the operator retaining his finger too long upon the key, and thus causing the pawl c to be held back until the next notch in the disk has been carried past it, which would disarrange the apparatus and render its action uncertain, we employ a device which will now be described: 12 is a. bent arm, which is secured to the shaftf, so that when the'pawl c is drawn back out of its notch in the disk F, the arm 'n will be raised (against the resistance of a light spring, 9,) bringing its outer end into contact with one of the wheels, 2), of the clockwork, which. arrests it until the operator removes his finger from the key to break the-circuit, when the spring 0 draws down the arm n, liberating the clock-work, and allowing the disk F to ,levolve until arrested by the pawl c falling into the next notch (I. When the pawl c is first drawn back out of itsnotch, the lost motion of the clock-work carries the disk F sufficiently far round to prevent'th epawl on its release from falling back into the same notch. v 1

By means oiithe above-described apparatus, all the street-lamps throughout a city, or the lamps in a building, may be simnltaneouslf, lighted orextinguished with cert-ainty b y a single operator at a central station, thus effecting a great saving of time and labor, as the services of a great numberof men employed for this purpose may bedispensed with; and as the lamps are all lighted or extinguished simultaneously, a considerable saving in the consumption of gas may also be effected. Our improved apparatus may be appliellat a small cost, and is not liable to get out of order.

Ola-int. 1. In combination with the eseape'wheel p, we elaiin'the artn n, rockshaft f, and the deteut '0, when eonstrncted and operated in manner substantially as described; I

, 2. We also claim the non-conducting sleeve H, having the wires lm embedded therein, in combination with the tip of the burner, substantially as described.

3. We also claim embedding the wires Z on in a sleeve,' H, of non-conducting material, surrounding the tip of the burner, or in the non-conducting tip of the burner itself, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

E. E. BEAN.

W. H. MUNL'ER.

Witnesses:

I. E. TESCHEMACIIER,

N. W. STEARNS. 

